Maine Launches “Mainers United for Marriage”

Campaign Seeks to Secure Freedom to Marry at November Ballot

AUGUSTA – Today, Freedom to Marry joined Maine families and organizations in launching Mainers United for Marriage, the campaign to make Maine the first state to win the freedom to marry through a ballot measure, to be voted on this November.

Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:

“Freedom to Marry is proud to be a leader in Mainers United for Marriage, the campaign to secure the freedom to marry for all of Maine’s loving and committed couples. This campaign has been more than two years in the making, as volunteers and organizers have been making the case to Maine voters about why marriage matters to gay and lesbian couples, in the process growing public support to a solid majority of 54 percent. Under the banner of Mainers United for Marriage, families and organizations, volunteers and our own staff will now ramp up and use every resource we can muster to explain to Maine voters about why now is the time to end the exclusion of loving, committed same-sex couples and their families from the protections and support that only marriage provides.

“On a personal note, I am thrilled that Matt McTighe will be managing this campaign. I’ve worked closely with Matt since 2006, when he served as my political director at MassEquality. Matt is smart, creative, quick on his feet, extraordinarily skilled in making the case for the freedom to marry, and relentlessly determined to win. We at Freedom to Marry commit ourselves to working closely with Matt and the impressive team that he’s assembling in order to bring about a resounding victory in November.”

Maine advocates collected more than 100,000 signatures and submitted them to the Secretary of State in January in order to get the measure on the ballot.

Winning marriage in Maine is one of Freedom to Marry’s priorities for 2012. Freedom to Marry is providing strategic support, assistance in specific areas such as new media, and financial support through Freedom to Marry’s Win More States Fund, launched last Thursday to raise $3 million to win marriage in key battleground states this year.

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Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.